First missions
- - - July 23rd - - -
When the team came home from their first official mission in the wee hours of the morning, Mary was waiting for them with hot chocolate and cinnamon shortbread.
"You're a life-saver", Wally exclaimed, taking the full plate of biscuits from her hand.
Luckily, there was no need for that. She had heaved a sigh of relief when Batman had relayed Aqualad's report to her a few hours earlier. None of the teens had been wounded, they had accomplished their first real mission without even minor injuries, no medical attention was needed.
Of course Batman would chew them out on all of their mistakes tomorrow – but tonight, all that mattered was that the untested team had returned whole from Santa Prisca.
"Anybody wants whipped cream or marshmallows with their hot chocolate?"
Mary had looked up the island on the internet before the team had departed. Santa Prisca was an independent one-island nation in the eastern Caribbean. Its total population was roughly equivalent to that of a medium-sized town like Fawcett City, most of the inhabitants were farmers. The island was well-known for exporting palm fruits, sugar, rum and several endemic types of orchids.
It was also known to be ruled by the corrupt drug-lord Bane who used said local orchids to extract the biochemical constituents of a strength-enhancing steroid called Venom. It had been the team's mission to investigate irregularities in the illegal drug's production.
Mary was more than glad that they had all returned safely. The fact that the Venom factory had been destroyed in the process was just an additional benefit.
"Wally, don't eat all of that shortbread alone!"
With a resigned smile, Mary handed a second plate of biscuits to Megan, beckoning her to distribute it among the rest of the team. The young Martian offered the snacks to Aqualad first, who declined with a polite smile.
Mary watched the team's newly elected leader closely. The dark-skinned Atlantean looked just as tired as the rest of them, yet he was carrying himself with more composure. His posture was still upright, his pale eyes stayed alert.
Robin filled his cocoa cup with tiny marshmallows to the brink, then followed Wally into the lounge area where the latter had already collapsed on one of the couches. Superboy regarded the miniature treats suspiciously, deliberately tasted one, frowned, and left without adding any to his chocolate. Megan hovered towards the couches behind him, stifling a yawn while attempting to float the remaining biscuits and hot chocolate into the room with her, tilting the levitated pot dangerously.
Aqualad was the only one who remained behind in the open kitchen with Mary. He had not touched any of the treats yet either, despite the fact that she had also added some salty snacks to their little midnight-buffet for him.
He just looked at her uncertainly with those strange silver-grey eyes.
"Congratulations on the mission", Mary offered, keen to break the silence.
"Thank you", he replied automatically. "And thank you even more for the warm reception. I am sorry that we have all intruded on your hospitality at such a late hour..."
She cut him off. "No, no, don't you ever worry about that! This is your headquarter, you all get to come and go whenever it pleases you."
He nodded thankfully. "In that case... We do have a mission debriefing scheduled with Batman for tomorrow morning..."
She smiled reassuringly. "Of course you are all staying here tonight! I've already prepared your rooms."
"We have rooms here?"
"Well, there are enough of them here, so why not? You are a team now, you should all feel at home at your own home base."
He chuckled drily. "We are not very much of a team just yet..."
Together, they looked over to where the rest of the group had sprawled out in the lounge area. Superboy was staring at his favourite wall while mechanically chewing on a piece of cinnamon shortbread. Megan had folded herself into the seat next to him, letting one of the tiny marshmallows float around her fingers in drowsy little circles. Wally was already snoring loudly, an empty plate at his feet. Robin had sprawled out on the opposite side of the sofa, his mask preventing them from discerning whether his eyes were still open or not.
"But we will become a team, soon", Aqualad added more confidently. "We did well tonight, and we will do better tomorrow."
Judging from the determined look in the young Atlantean's eyes, Mary never doubted his words.
- - - July 31st - - -
Wally loved Saturdays. The full weekend lay before him. Even during summer break, Saturdays were special. Weekends meant that Uncle Barry didn't have to work – and that he could run with him.
Although sometimes the term 'not working' was debatable – they were currently trying to catch the culprit of a murder case that Uncle Barry had solved at the Central City police department on the previous work day. The guy was apparently in liege with Captain Cold, who seemed to still be passing on orders to his henchmen despite being locked up behind bars at Belle Reve.
The goon was trying to escape in a bright red sports car on the Central Highway.
Wally loved car chases. Of course he and Barry didn't need a car…
"So, how was your last week of training with the team?", Barry asked while they weaved in and out of traffic.
"Pretty cool", Wally replied, sprinting past yet another delivery truck.
Pretty exhausting, too. He had never had so many combat lessons in a single week before. His body had been sore for hours yesterday, until his super-speedy recovery had finally kicked in.
"Say, can I ask you a favour?"
"Sure!" Barry grinned widely. "Any tricks this old dog can still teach you?"
"Well, I was thinking... Could you ask Martian Manhunter to put in a good word with his niece for me?"
Megan leaned against the door of her bedroom, her body trembling.
All her muscles ached from the past five days of constant workouts. Her mind felt frayed as well. Canary had told her to practise her telekinetic coordination during combat, levitating multiple objects simultaneously to use them as shields or projectiles. At the same time, she was still learning how to keep a mind link 'on call', staying alert for urgent messages without actually reading surface thoughts. Mary and Aqualad had volunteered to help her practice that, in exchange for Megan teaching them some basic mental techniques to control their own minds, to sort and shield their thoughts more efficiently. By the end of the week, Megan had been able to keep the passive link going for almost ten hours straight.
Now it was the weekend. No combat lessons today, no telepathy.
Yet there was one more skill she could train.
Megan pressed both her hands against the solid wood in front of her, willing them to pass through.
She could feel the density of her body changing, her hands turning lighter, her substance shifting. She could already adapt her body mass significantly. But changing fully into the unsubstantial plane, the quantum state that allowed her molecules to actually pass through other objects, that still lay beyond her.
Ghosting, the humans called it. She had asked her uncle how he had mastered that skill, when he had stopped by earlier that morning.
'It takes years of practice', he had replied.
Megan leaned against the door of her bedroom, breathing heavily.
Years of practice.
She pressed her hands against the wood once more.
One more skill to train.
Kaldur waited politely for his King to start eating before he dug his fork into his own portion of their boxed lunch. Aquaman had just returned from a four-day mission in New York and had picked up some Vietnamese take-out on the way back to their shared surface flat. Today's menu was a spicy sea weed soup and fried rice noodles with Tofu and vegetables, drenched in salty soy sauce.
Kaldur had spent the morning cleaning up the apartment, making sure everything looked neat for his King's return. Well, he had spent an hour or two with that. Afterwards, he had returned to the couch, turned on some surface radio and dozed off until he heard his King's key turn in the door lock.
"How was your week at the cave?", his King enquired.
Training with Superboy was exhausting! Kaldur was not used to sparring with a partner that much stronger than himself, and to trying out so many new techniques at once. He needed repetition to perfect his stance, to coordinate his movements correctly. Hence he had repeated most of their lessons privately, spending twice as much time in the practice rink as his other team mates.
"I enjoyed it", he replied.
Physically, it had been one of the most taxing weeks since he had entered Aquaman's service.
Yet it also been one of the most rewarding. He was finally getting to know the people he was leading, finally making new friends.
His King smiled knowingly. "I'm glad to hear that. How is your team coming along?"
Kaldur reflected on the experiences of the past days.
"Everyone is training very hard. Miss Martian is a lot more resilient than I would have expected. Her fighting skills and telepathy are improving rapidly." She was also the most cheerful of his teammates, always warm and welcoming, even to him. "Robin has the most combat experience, yet he still lacks practice in working as part of a team." Fortunately, he did not seem to resent Kaldur for taking over the role as team leader temporarily. "Kid Flash is adapting more easily, but he does not always take his training as seriously as the others. He is very good at keeping the team's morale up, though." Wally's friendly banter had brightened their lessons, and his crazy ideas had shortened the free time in between them. "Superboy is proficient in many physical skills, yet he often prefers to stay isolated." Kaldur was still trying to get through to his sparring partner, but he sensed that the Kryptonian mainly needed more time to find his place.
His King nodded, content with his protégé's report.
"Would you pass me the soy sauce again?"
Superboy stood at the beach, the waves of the Atlantic lapping against his bare feet.
The team had left for the weekend. Wally was meeting the Flash, Kaldur was with Aquaman, Robin with Batman. Even Megan had talked to her uncle, Martian Manhunter, earlier.
Superman had not bothered to stop by.
It was almost one month now since he had been freed from Cadmus.
Still no sign of him.
More than a week ago, the team had completed their first official mission at Santa Prisca.
Superman had not deemed it necessary to respond.
For the past five days, they had prepared for their next encounter with an enemy.
Still, Superman had not joined them even once.
This training was pointless.
He was a weapon, a warrior. He was Kryptonian. He was stronger than anybody else. His brain was filled with fighting skills. He did not need to train.
Why had he even bothered?
Because Black Canary had told him about body memory. Because knowing a technique theoretically was not enough, he had to practice how to perform it.
So he had agreed to try every combat technique once.
He had followed every instruction effortlessly.
In their sparring matches, he had won against Kaldur every single time.
He had only sparred with Kaldur, never with any of the others. Black Canary did not have to tell him why.
Because the Atlantean could take it.
Because if he landed even a single solid hit against Wally, or Robin, or Megan, he could splinter their spines.
He did not want to cripple Megan. So when he asked him if he wanted to repeat some of her own lessons with her, of course he had refused.
She had looked so disappointed.
Learning not to break somebody's bones, that was a skill he had to practice.
Superman must know how to do it. He fought against ordinary humans all the time. He had never killed any.
Superboy had a pretty accurate feeling for how hard he packed his punches. He could restrain his strength. He had barely bruised Aqualad during their sparring matches.
But how could he be sure that his control was flawless? How could he practice that?
Superman would know.
Superman had still not talked to him.
Superboy stared at the waves in front of him.
Swimming was another skill the G-gnomes had implanted in his brain. He knew how to swim.
Yet he had never actually done it.
He stepped further into the water.
Gain some body memory, Black Canary had told him. Practice what you know.
He let himself fall forwards into the surf, then started cutting through the waves with wide, steady strokes.
One more skill he did not need to train.
Yet it didn't feel too bad to practice this one…
The sun was shining warmly on his back while Superboy began to swim across the bay.
Robin was standing on his hands, watching yet another news report on the laptop in front of him. Bruce would spend this Saturday pretending to be charming at an important charity gala, which meant that Robin finally had time for the research that Speedy had requested. The League of Shadows was up to something, apparently.
He had enjoyed spending so much time with the team over the past week. However, it was good to also have a bit of privacy occasionally. He was not used to so much company.
Alfred entered the room discreetly, carrying a tray with a plate full of sandwiches, adjoined by a little bowl of grapes and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Your lunch is ready, Master Richard."
Robin flipped into an upright position.
"Thanks Alfred."
"Did you have a pleasant week?"
Robin smiled. "Yeah, we had a good time. But Black Canary's training regime is almost as strict as Batman's."
Except that she apparently let them have the full weekend off – a luxury!
He finished the food off rapidly. He had much to catch up on.
Mary knocked on the wall below Red Tornado's workplace.
"Red Tornado? Do you happen to have a moment?"
Only a few seconds later, the red android descended through the hatch in the ceiling.
"Hello Mary. You are not interrupting anything urgent. How may I help you?"
"I was just thinking, the team is spending so much time with their training this summer, so maybe it would be a good time for me to learn some new skills as well? I mean, it's a shame that I have to use secret Zeta technology just to go shopping... Sir, I'm trying to ask, could you teach me how to drive?"
The android regarded her silently for a moment.
"I will set up a simulator in the training room", he replied. "May I ask you a favour in return?"
- - - August 9th - - -
Yesterday had been amazing. Artemis had not expected to already go on a real mission on her very first day with the team. Yet she had barely been introduced to Megan and the boys before being thrown right into the action. Saving a nanotech scientist's life and stopping a major cross-country cyber-attack on her first night on the job?
She loved it already.
The blond archer checked her bow and quiver one last time, straightened her home-made green costume and re-adjusted her mask, before entering the hidden Zeta station in Central Gotham.
Today was her first normal day of training. She just had to hope she'd somehow fit in.
At least her sister Jade wouldn't show up to interfere this time...
Green Arrow had explained that the team used the last weeks of summer break for some extended training sessions, mainly led by Black Canary, although some of the other Justice League members would also show up occasionally.
The actual members of the Justice League, teaching them lessons! Even Wonder Woman herself had apparently held a talk on ethics and morales just two weeks ago.
Please, please don't mess this up…
"Recognized. B07. Artemis."
She exited the teleporter tube at Mount Justice, the team's headquarter. Her team's headquarter.
Just pretend to be normal.
Just don't let them see how much of a crazy mess your life really is.
She hesitated at the top of the stairs that led down to the training area.
What was she even thinking? Her father and her sister worked for the League of Shadows as Sportsmaster and Cheshire. Her mother, Huntress, was a convicted criminal, barely out of jail.
She must be mad to even try this.
But she wanted it so badly…
"Welcome back, Artemis", Aqualad greeted her, as she entered the downstairs sparring rink. He was currently sitting crossed-legged on Superboy's back, forming swirling shapes out of water, while the gorgeous clone boy performed one-handed push-ups effortlessly.
"Hey Artemis!", Megan exclaimed, dropping the half a dozen pieces of fruit that she had apparently been levitating.
"You lost control, Miss M", Robin chided her. "Look, this is a simple fountain pattern. You are letting the oranges float in a clockwise circle above your right hand and the apples in a counter-clockwise circle above your left hand, okay? Like this..."
Was he juggling? Since when did the Boy Wonder know how to juggle? What on Earth was Batman training him for?
"Do you need all the apples?", a mechanic voice enquired.
Red Tornado had entered the training area, wearing a white and blue striped apron tied with a bow around his metallic torso. His large hands were covered in flour.
"Mary is teaching me how to make apple pie", the android explained.
Artemis grinned widely.
Her life was a crazy mess?
She would fit in perfectly.
Author's note:
Finally, we've met all members of the team! As stated in the summary, this story is focussing on the time between missions. I won't be retelling everything that happens in the show - only those parts that are important for later chapters, or turn out rather differently in my version... (This particular chapter encompassed the three episodes "Drop-Zone", "Schooled" and "Infiltrator".)
Now that you've met them all: Who is your favourite Young Justice team member in this story so far? Which scene / trait / comment of theirs did you like in particular at this point?
Please review!